It was a fresh idea: Plan the holidays based not on what we wanted to do, but how we wanted to feel.
Easy to define the target: Unrushed, rested, refreshed. Closer to one another.
How to pull it off?
Short travel days. Loose schedule. Multiple days in the same location.
So began the best family holiday ever.
In the two weeks away we traveled from Hinton, Alberta to Vancouver Island and back.
We’d reluctantly scheduled our three nights at Pacific Rim National Park and our day at the Abbotsford Airshow. Schedules and obligations were a part of our regular lives and we wanted as little as possible on the holiday. But there was plenty of space on either side of each event to keep things unrushed.
Perhaps it was coincidence that the actual activities were amazing, perhaps not.
Outstanding campsites, near perfect weather.
A flight in a floatplane along the coast of Vancouver Island where according to the pilot, my friend Brad, we saw way more whales than on most flights.
A boat trip from Gold River to Friendly Cove, again with Brad, where we encountered Luna, a lone killer whale who eventually became famous.
A walk through the giant trees of Cathedral Grove, beach time, surfing and exploring the tidal pools at Pacific Rim, hanging out in Courtney/Comox. Lots of reading time. The airshow. The trip home. Even the long waits for the ferry were kind of fun.
At no time did we feel rushed or busy. We just plodded along contentedly, together.
And when we got home and looked back, it felt good. And we felt good.
Just like we’d hoped, but also planned, that it would.
